Residents, LGU not in favor of closing Semirara coal mine despite tragedy

GMA News Network
July 20, 2015 11:50am

Search for missing Semirara miners continues. Heavy equipment continue to dig through the collapsed section of the Panian Mine in search of three missing miners in Semirara, Antique. The collapse is the second at the mine run by Semirara Mining Corp., the biggest coal miner in the country. Five miners were killed in the collapse in 2013. Chino Gaston/GMA News 

Despite last week's accident that claimed the lives of at least six miners, residents and even the local government of Caluya in Antique are against the shutdown of the Semirara coal mine on Semirara Island, a television report said Monday.

In a live report on News To Go, GMA News' Chino Gaston said the residents and local government officials are not in favor of closing the operations since a whole community was built on, and has benefitted from the said mine.

Residents there said it would affect their livelihood, since many of them relocated in the area specifically to work for the mining company.

For the family of Generoso Talaro, one of the six miners killed in the incident, his death was even seen as part of the job, the report said.

Its operations are currently halted as investigation rolls on about the incident.

Three miners remain unaccounted for.

Undersecretary Zenaida Monsada, currently the officer-in-charge of the Department of Energy, is expected in the area on Tuesday to lead government officials in checking the situation there.

The Sangguniang Bayan of Caluya, meanwhile, is meeting on Monday to discuss financial assistance to the families of the victims, as well as their next actions regarding the mining operations, the News To Go report said.

Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao earlier recommended the shutdown of the coal mine after an initial investigation showed that the incident bore similar coauses causes as the 2013 incident that killed five miners.

No warning

However, the Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) said the most recent incident may have been caused by continuous rains in the area at the time, the report said.

It added that SMPC didn't monitor any warning or movement from the land through the automated or robotic equipment that measures the movement of land using prism and laser.

SMPC said that after the 2013 incident, there were five instances of movement that they monitored and alerted their miners of.

However, the most recent incident -- seen to have been caused by continuous rains -- did not come with warning from the equipment, the report quoted the SMPC safety officer as saying. — Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/RSJ, GMA News source